United outcast Romelu Lukaku still in limbo

Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku has reportedly failed to report for training at the club’s Carrington base and is instead training with Anderlecht in Belgium.

The Belgium star does not feature in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s long-term plans for the Red Devils and is available for sale.

But United are looking for a fee in excess of the £75million they paid Everton two years ago, which has so far priced out Inter Milan and Juventus.

In the meantime, Lukaku has yet to feature in pre-season, despite travelling with the club on the tour to Australia and the Far East.

He was left out of the squad which faced AC Milan in Cardiff on Saturday and on Monday, he was pictured training with his former club Anderlecht.

United refused to say whether he had been given permission to return to Belgium, revealing only that Solskjaer’s first-team squad had the day off.

But Lukaku was reportedly due to report back to Carrington yesterday morning, but instead he has again been pictured training with Anderlecht.

Meanwhile, Arsenal captain Laurent Koscielny completed a return to France yesterday after agreeing a reported three-year deal with Ligue 1 club Bordeaux.

The French international, 33, made clear his desire for a move last month when he refused to travel on Arsenal’s pre-season tour of the United States.

His standoff with the club reportedly came after the Gunners rejected his request to be released from the final year of his contract. Koscielny was understood to be keen to move back to his homeland after nine seasons with Arsenal, having joined the Gunners in 2010 from Lorient. — AFP.